Vanishing Acts Read online

  I smiled. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Let’s just say we agreed to stay friends.”

  “That’s cool.” Charlotte shrugged. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for finding Mister Fru Fru’s egger.”

  “It’s what I do,” I replied.

  “Yeah, I know, and I’m impressed.” Charlotte turned around and left without another word.

  And life went on as usual. I walked my dogs. I solved mysteries. I even got used to Finn and Lulu.

  And six months later, I went to Hollywood.

  No, not to live. That would be insane! How could I leave Brooklyn when it’s my middle name? I can’t. It’ll never happen. I mean I headed to Hollywood for a week—for Seth Ryan’s film premiere. Yup, that’s right—Vanished was finally done.

  Seth had moved up to Montreal for a while to finish filming. We’d been pen pals ever since he left town.

  That’s how I knew that after he finished working on the movie, he’d decided to take some time off and hang out in Buffalo with his family. Seth refused to enroll in regular school, but he agreed to resume his studies with a real tutor—one that would at least teach him the difference between a borough and a city. (I hoped.)

  And last month, Seth surprised me by sending first-class tickets to Hollywood for my whole family—tickets that I promptly traded in for coach seats so I’d have enough money to fly my friends out, too.

  Yes, flying first class would’ve been cool, but not as cool as bringing my best friends along with me.

  In fact, all six of us were in the same row. Me, Milo, Lulu, Finn, Beatrix, and Sonya.

  (My parents were nice enough to sit a few rows up, out of sight.)

  It felt funny but at the same time totally perfect to have everyone here with me. Beatrix and Sonya wore their new “Brooklyn Barks for Seth Ryan” T-shirts. Finn consoled Lulu, who was upset because they’d confiscated her favorite knitting needles back at security. And once the pilot announced we were ready for takeoff, Milo got way fidgety.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Fine!” he said, a little too fast.

  “It’s gonna be fun!” I said. “Don’t worry.”

  He’d only agreed to come on the condition that I would sit next to him on the plane. He’d never been on a real one before, and he was scared of flying.

  That’s why I reached for his hand and held it, to calm him down.

  He seemed okay, and before I knew it, we were soaring through the air. Once we’d reached cruising altitude, the pilot turned off the seat-belt sign with a ding.

  Milo turned to me. “Guess what?” he said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I’m just kidding. This isn’t my first airplane trip, and I’m not scared of flying. I actually kind of love it.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure him out, but Milo is not an easy boy to figure out. That’s why I decided to just ask him, straight out. “Then why did you tell me you were scared?”

  He grinned. “Because I wanted an excuse to hold your hand.”

  I looked down at our interlaced fingers and gave his hand a little squeeze. “Guess what?” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. “You didn’t need an excuse.”

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks very much to everyone at Bloomsbury. You are all amazing! I’m also very grateful to Laura Langlie and Bill Contardi.

  I could not have done this without the love and support of my family, Leo, Lucy, and Jim. I’m also so grateful to my friends, advisors, and early readers, including Coe Booth, Sarah Mlynowski, Jessica Ziegler, and Ethan Wolff.

  It seems strange to mention my neighborhood and dog, but without Brooklyn or Aunt Blanche, this series would not exist. So thank you for the inspiration!

  Also by Leslie Margolis

  THE ANNABELLE UNLEASHED SERIES

  Boys Are Dogs

  Girls Acting Catty

  Everybody Bugs Out

  THE MAGGIE BROOKLYN MYSTERIES

  Girl’s Best Friend

  Copyright © 2012 by Leslie Margolis

  First published in the United States of America in January 2012 by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers www.bloomsburykids.com

  Electronic edition published in January 2012

  For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Margolis, Leslie.

  Vanishing acts : a Maggie Brooklyn mystery / by Leslie Margolis. — 1st U.S. ed.

  p. cm.

  All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  Summary: Life is confusing for seventh-grader Maggie, who must track down a missing person and find out who is behind a string of dog eggings at the local dog run, while also dealing with issues involving her brother and two of her friends.

  [1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Twins—Fiction. 3. Junior high schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Dogs—Fiction. 6. Missing persons—Fiction. 7. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.M33568Van 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011018592

  ISBN: 978 1 5999 0720 8 (ebook)